Straight bar knitting machine



Oct. 20, 1953 I K. w. WICKARDT 2,655,800

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 9, 1951 5 Sheets-Sheet l KURT W/LLI W/C/(ARDTInaenlor Oct. 20, 1953 K, w. WlCKARDT 2,655,800

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 9, 1951 v 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 K1121 w/uJ W/LKA DT Inventor 1953 K. w. WICKARDT 2,655,800

STRAIGHT BAR KNITTING MACHINE Filed April 9, 1951 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 3 clarity. In the drawings like reference numerals indicate like parts.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and 3, an L-shaped beam carries one or more groups of loop-forming elements, one for each piece of fabric to be knitted on the machine, and each comprising sinker heads |2 with sinkers 22, knockover bars 26 with knockover bits 25, and jackheads 28 with striking jacks 21. Arranged in front of these groups of loop-forming elements and separately supported are needle bars 24 with needles 23. One or more thread carrier rods |5 are slidably carried in guide brackets |3, |4, attached to the L-shaped beam H at intervals, so that the rods may be reciprocated parallel to and along the row of needles. Each of these thread carrier rods supports a plurality of thread carrier fingers |6, one for each group of loop-forming elements, which fingers are so shaped as to enable them, during the Coulier motion of the machine, to lay a thread on the sinker noses and behind the needles 23. Each of these thread carrier rods l5 carries two or more abutments l1, l8, (see Fig. 1) which may contact stop slide I9 supported in a stop-housing 20, which is fixed to the main frame of the knitting machine. The abutments l1, l8 are arranged and adjusted so as to limit the stroke of the reciprocating movement of thread-carrier rods to obtain a desired and pre-determined width of fabric.

Behind and parallel to L-shaped beam II, a guide-rail 36 supported on the main frame of the machine, carries a number of slurcocks 29, one for each group of loop-forming elements. Slurcocks 29 are slidable on guide-rail 30 and are is prevented by collars l2, l3 co-operating with parts of the main frame of the knitting machine. Fixed to drive shaft is any suitable place is a drive gear 34 engaging a pinion 33 attached to the shaft of an electric motor or other prime mover 32.

It will be understood that during any whole revolution of drive shaft 35 slurcocks 29 will be reciprocated along the groups of loop-forming elements. The stroke of groove 31 has'to have an amplitude of suitable size to move the slurcocks 29 through a distance slightly more than the width of each knitting section. This move- 7 ment of slurcocks 29 results in striking jacks 21 being brought forward into contact with the butts of sinkers 22 thus moving sinkers 22 forward to bring their front ends or noses into positions enabling them to measure kinks of loops against needles 23.

Referring now more particularly to Figs. 3, 4 and 5, attached to connecting rail 3| and sliding on guide-rail 30 are two support-brackets 40, 4| carrying a toothed rack 42, which rack takes part in any reciprocating movement of connecting rail 3| and slurcocks 29. A spur-gear 43 is supported by a shaft 44 which is rotatably carried in a'housing 45 attached to the main frame of the knitting machine. It will be understood that shaft 44 performs an alternating rotary movement during any reciprocating movement of rack 42 and slurcocks 29.

Inside housing 45, shaft 44 carries a number of clutch mechanisms 46, one for each threadcarrier rod to be reciprocated along the row of needles. Each of these clutch mechanisms 46 consists of two side flanges 49, 50, fixed to shaft 44 by means of a key 52 in order to take part in any rotary movement of shaft 44. Side flanges 49, 5|] support rotatably a friction ring 5|. Inside friction ring 5| is arranged a pair of friction levers 54 supported on a pin 53 in side flanges 49 and 50. A compression spring 55 presses friction levers 54 against the inner side of friction ring 5|.

Friction levers 54 take part in any rotary movement of side flanges 49, 50 and shaft 44, while the friction between friction levers 54 and friction ring 5| causes said friction ring to take part in such rotating movement until any further rotation of said friction ring is prevented as will 'be hereinafter described and friction levers 54 will then slide along the inner side of friction rings 5|.

Spur gear teeth out into the outside of friction rings 15| engage teeth of idler gears 41, rotatably supported on a shaft 56 in housing 45, there being one idler gear 41 for each clutch mechanism 48. The torque of each idler gear 41 is transmitted to one of pinions 48 which are in dividually supported on pins 51 in vertical slides 58. Slides 58 are slidably supported in housing 45 one above each thread carrier rod to be operated, thereby enabling each of pinions 48 to be moved individually in a vertical direction into either the inoperative position in which it is disengaged from rack 2| attached to the associated thread carrier rod [5, or into the operative position 48a in which is engages the rack 2| attached to the associated thread carrier rod l5.

The upper end of each of said vertical slides 58 carries an extension 59 engaging the forked end of one of a group of bell-crank levers 60 rotatably supported on a shaft 62 in housing 45. The other or vertical ends of bell-crank levers 60 are arranged and shaped in a way to enable them to be brought into contact with cam studs II, attached to a control drum 64. Compression springs 6| or other suitable means are individually arranged for each of bell-crank levers 60 so as to press the upper ends of said bell-crank levers towards control drum 64, thus urging associated slide 58 and pinion 48 in their upper or inoperative positions.

Control drum 64 is attached to a control shaft 65, which is rotatably supported in housing 45 and carries firmly attached to itself a ratchet wheel 66. An oscillatable lever 61, which carries a pawl 68 which is prevented from slipping off its supporting pin by a collar or other suitable means 69, is freely carried on control shaft 65. The lower end of lever 61 may be connected by a connecting rod Ill in a way well-known in the design of straight-bar knitting machines to a cam follower operated by a cam on the cam shaft of the machine. Lever 61 may thus be operated at pro-determined selected intervals to bring about partial rotation of control drum 64 in steps. Cam studs 'H are arranged on control drum 64 in suitable places so that each may engage the upper or vertical end of a bellcrank lever 60 in order to bring one or more of said bell-crank levers into its operative position 60a against the action of compression spring 6|, thus bringing one or more of pinions 48 into its operative position in engagement with one or more of racks 2| attached to thread carrier rods I5. 7 v r cam stud Ha on control drum 64 contacts the upper end of bell-crank lever 80a, thus bringing pinion 4811- into engagement with rack 25a, out of a group of racks -2I, attached to thread carrier rods I5. During the first half "of' a revolution of shaft 35 in the direction of arrow B in Fig. 2, slide block 39, slur cocks 29 and rack 42 are movedto the right as seen in Fig. 2, the amplitude of which movement is controlled by groove 3? in drum cam 36. Gear 43 and shaft 44 consequently are rotated in the direction of arrow C in Fig. 2, resulting in movement of rack 2 la and its corresponding thread carrier rod to the right until abutment l8 contacts stop slide [9 in stop housing 20. Friction ring is now prevented from taking part in any further rotation of shaft 44 and friction levers 54 will slide inside friction ring 5| until the movement of rack 42 and slurcocks 29 to the right has reached its end. Duringthe next half revolution of shaft 35 and drum cam 36, in the direction of arrow B in Fig. 2, slurcocks 29 and rack 42 are moved to the left as seen in Fig. 2,, resulting in rotation of gear 43 and shaft 44 in the direction opposite to that shown by arrow C in Fig. 2. Rack 2m and its corresponding thread carrier rod [5, is now moved to the left until abutment l'l contacts stop slide [9 in stop housing 20, from which moment a sliding movement between friction levers 54 and friction ring 5| occurs as described above.

It will be readily understood that by this application of the present invention to a straightbar knitting machine, each of a group of thread carrier rods can individually be brought into timed relation with the movement of the slurcocks, while the remaining thread carrier rods are unaffected and may remain stationary.

I claim:

1. In a straight bar knitting machine embodying a plurality of reciprocable thread carrier rods and thread carrier stops for limiting the travel of said thread carrier rods, a driving shaft common to a plurality of thread carrier rods, power drive means for oscillating said shaft back and forth in opposite directions of rotation, a plurality of toothed wheels mounted on said shaft and each associated with one of the thread carrier rods, a friction clutch for each of said toothed wheels for frictionally coupling said toothed wheels with said shaft, and means between said toothed wheels and said thread carrier rods for selectively establishing a driving relationship between said toothed wheels and their respective thread carrier rods and for interrupting such driving relationship.

2. In a straight bar knitting machine according to claim 1, cam means common to all of the thread carrier rods adapted to individually interrupt and restore the driving relationship between said subsidiary driving elements and said thread carrier rods.

3. In a straight bar knitting machine embodying a slur bar, power drive means for reciprocating said slur bar, a plurality of rack toothed reciprocable thread carrier rods, thread carrier stops for respectively limiting the travel of the thread carrier rods, a toothed rack on said slur bar, a driving shaft common to a plurality of thread carrier rods, a toothed Wheel on said shaft in engagement with said rack to enable reciprocation of the slur bar to rotate said shaft to and fro, a plurality of toothed wheels mounted on said shaft and each associated with one of the thread carrier rods, a friction clutch for each of said toothed wheels for frictionally coupling said toothed wheels with said shaft, and means between said toothed wheels and said thread carrier rods for selectively establishing a driving relationship between said toothed wheels and their respective thread carrier rods and for interrupting such driving relationship.

4. In a straight bar knitting machine, a plurality of rack toothed reciprocable thread carrier rods, thread carrier stops for respectively limiting the travel of I said thread carrier rods, a driving shaft common to a plurality of thread carrier rods, means to oscillate said shaft back and forth in opposite directions of rotation, a plurality of toothed wheels mounted on said shaft and each associated with one of the said thread carrier rods, a friction clutch for each of said toothed wheels for frictionally coupling said toothed wheels with said shaft, a set of pinions driven respectively by said toothed wheels and adapted respectively to be moved into and out of engagement with said rack toothed thread carrier rods, cam mean for individually controlling the engagement and disengagements of said pinions with the rack toothed thread carrier rods, and pivoted lever elements between said cam means and said pinions for displacing the pinions into and out of engagement with the rack toothed thread carrier rods under the control of said cam means.

5. In a straight bar knitting machine according to claim 4 a toothed idler between each of said toothed wheels and its related pinion.

-6. In a straight bar knitting machine according to claim 4 and embodying a reciprocating slur bar, a toothed rack on said slur bar and a pinion on said driving shaft in engagement with said rack to enable the oscillation of the shaft to be achieved by the reciprocation of the slur bar.

'7. In a straight bar knitting machine according to claim 4, a separate toothed rack element secured to each thread carrier rod for engagement for its pinion.

8. In a straight bar knitting machine, a plurality of rack toothed reciprocable thread carrier rods, thread carrier stops for respectively limiting the travel of said thread carrier rods, a driving shaft common to a plurality of thread carrier rods, means to oscillate said shaft back and forth in opposite directions of rotation, a plurality of toothed wheels mounted on said shaft and each associated with one of the said thread carrier rods, a friction clutch for each of said toothed wheels for frictionally coupling said toothed wheels with said shaft, a set of pinions driven respectively by said toothed wheels and adapted respectively to be moved into and out of engagement with said rack toothed thread carrier rods, and cam means for individually controlling the engagement and disengagement of said pinions with the rack toothed thread carrier rods.

9. In a straight bar knitting machine a plurality of reciprocable thread carrier rods, thread carrier stops for limiting the travel of said thread carrier rods, a common rotary driving element for driving said thread carrier rods, power drive means for oscillating said common driving element back and forth in opposite directions of rotation, a plurality of subsidiary driving elements co-axial with said common rotary drive element, one of said subsidiary driving elements being provided for each thread carrier rod, individual frictional driving means for driving each of said subsidiary driving elements from said common driving element, gearing means individual to each of said subsidiary driving elements and each movable into and out of an operative position, each gearing means in said operative position connecting one of said subsidiary driving elements with an associated thread carrier rod and when not in said operative position disconnecting said subsidiary driving element from said associated thread carrier rod, and means for se- 10 lectively moving said gearing means individually into and out of said operative positions to selectively establish and interrupt driving relationship between said subsidiary driving elements and said thread carrier rods.

' KURT WILLI WICKARDT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,063,000 Richter Dec. 1, 1936 2,574,487 Lambach r Nov. 13, 1951 

